


Once Bitten

by Sephirotha



Series: Final Fantasy XIV Collection [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Female Miqo'te (Final Fantasy XIV), Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Spoilers, Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood Spoilers, Gen, Miqo'te Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), One-Sided Relationship, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:22:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22545499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephirotha/pseuds/Sephirotha
Summary: Don’t bite off more than you can chew, Eve.  Otherwise you’ll just keep chewing until the taste turns bland or you give up and spit it out.When Eve first crossed Zenos, she hadn't anticpated the madness that would ensue.
Series: Final Fantasy XIV Collection [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1622137
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

Eve will admit, after fighting primals, dragons and Garlean generals, she might have gotten a little cocky with fighting new opponents in Gyr Abania. 

_Don’t bite off more than you can chew, Eve. Otherwise you’ll just keep chewing until the taste turns bland or you give up and spit it out._

Eve really should have gone into the fight with Zenos with the purpose to keep him busy until reinforcements arrived. She should have, by all accounts, not have even considered to take this tyrant head on and expend all her energy in the first two minutes.

It was when she was knocked to her knees that her late mother’s words echoed in her mind. A necessary, if maybe a little brutal, wake-up call for her.

Her ears went up when Zenos towered over her and she bared her teeth, gripping her bow with one hand and reaching back to her quiver…only to realise she was out of arrows. Despite this revelation, she refused to show the panic flaring in her heart.

This was it. She was going to get struck down. By an oversized bloodthirsty tyrant. Her mother must be proud.

He lunged for her, she felt the steel of his blade strike her through her armour and was sent back a couple of feet. Her bow fell to the side as she landed on her front with a grunt. Her hands shook as she pushed herself up to glare at him.

His katana broke in half as he stood straight, looking down at her through his helmet.

“Pathetic.”

A growl was rising in Eve’s throat as she struggled to get back to her feet. But everywhere ached, her body screamed for succour. 

She needed to get back up, she couldn’t die here, not now, not after everything.

Yet by some twist of fate, Zenos stepped back and walked away. Fordola and her skulls followed him, bloody weapons sheathed as they carelessly stepped on the bodies of the fallen on their way out.

“Seven hells…”

Eve let out a breath when she heard Raubahn’s voice. Then another breath of relief when a healer came to her side and removed the ache in her muscles.

“Shall we give chase, General?” the flame officer asked.

“No!” Eve croaked as she turned to them, eyes wide in alarm.

Do not chase after the person who pretty much slaughtered this camp without breaking a sweat!

“There has been enough death this day,” Raubahn agreed with her. “See to the wounded.”

“Aye, sir!”

The officers ran off as the general knelt by Eve’s side.

“Are you all right, lass?”

Eve snorted.

“I think my pride may have taken a knock,” she mumbled and leaned back to rest of her knees.

“‘Tis no ordinary foe could best the likes of you.”

Eve grumbled under her breath as she took Raubahn’s hand and struggled to get back to her feet. She looked back to Conrad and Y’shtola. Her heart ached to see her fellow miqo’te curled up in the dust.

She clenched her fist.

Next time, she was going to make sure his blood was staining the ground.

* * *

Unfortunately, next time was sooner than she anticipated. In the ongoing quest to free Ala Mhigo, Eve found herself in the Far East and with it, a whole new world that she really wanted to explore.

Too bad there were just imperials lurking around every corner.

“The crown prince has come to Doma.”

Eve’s heart sunk as she stared at Gosetsu as he uttered those words. She didn’t realise just how fear gripped her heart at the thought. She had believed to not see him for a while yet and now…

“If Zenos is here, we must seize this opportunity to kill him.”

_No!_

Eve wanted to scream at Yugiri but she couldn’t find her voice. Thankfully Alisae gently reminded Yuguri of their previous encounter of the tyrant back in Rhalgar’s Reach. Yuguri’s heart was still set solely on Zenos’s assassination, despite everyone else saying it would be a bad idea for a myriad of reasons.

Yuguri stormed out, determined to carry through with her plan and Eve chased after her with every intention of stopping her.

So how did she end up on a rooftop with the shinobi, cloaked in night’s darkness and waiting for the crown prince to show up?

“He comes.”

Eve swallowed.

Yes, she had gotten stronger, but she had the feeling it wasn’t going to go well. Everything about this screamed that this plan had a lot of potential to go wrong.

There was always Operation Scaredy Cat in case it did go wrong, but that hinged on whether Yugiri was lighter than she looked and if Eve was able to run fast enough.

Eve’s ears twitched to attention as Zenos came into view, accompanied by his retinue and Yotsuyu.

Now that was a target Eve was willing to strike down in just a single arrow. Provided the little bitch didn’t have a revolver hidden up her kimono.

Yugiri leapt off the roof, leaving the miqo’te to slink into position.

Her ears twitched a couple of times as she heard Yugiri’s blade hit its mark. And then…they hit another blade.

“AMBUSH!”

Eve took her cue to slide out of her hiding place and take her stance behind the imperial group. She readied her bow, arrow drawn as she waited for the opportune time to strike.

“How weak you are,” Zenos spoke as if he was a bored child. “Is this the sum of your hate?”

“This is only the beginning!” Yugiri declared, her passion shining through. “For Lord Kaien! For Doma!”

Eve’s fingers shook as she accidentally let her arrow fly and struck down an imperial soldier. Yotsuyu turned to her and Eve’s flattened ears pricked whilst she got into a battle stance.

“Mayhap I shall test this blade of yours,” Zenos said as he turned to his viceroy. “Let us hope it is to my liking, lest your misfortunes compound. Then again, I am loath to expend such effort on the unworthy. Come, earn the honour.”

Yugiri charged forward and Eve readied another arrow.

“Don’t bite off more than I can chew,” she murmured under her breath as she aimed for the crown prince.

* * *

And here she was, on her knees and being soaked to the bone by the rain. The only difference was that she was on Doman soil. Otherwise this would have reflected the scene back at Rhalgar’s Reach.

In other words, nothing had changed. Eve still bit off more than she could chew, even though she was mindful to not expend more energy than she should have.

Now she can barely stand, Yugiri was just a few feet away from her, (breathing, but for how long?) and Zenos was towering over her, ready to strike her down.

“Ahh…I remember you.” Eve’s ears pricked as she slowly looked up at Zenos. “Ala Mhigo. The champion of the savages.”

Oh, how wonderful. He remembers her. Even though she had changed her gear since, she’s been remembered and recognised. What an honour.

Also did he just insult her? That sounded like an insult…

Zenos raised his blade and she lowered her head to await death…

Chck.

The final blow never hit. Zenos sheathed his katana.

Eve lifted her head to see Zenos take his helmet off and look where one of his decorative horns had been broken.

“Oh, I see. How right I was to spare your life.”

Eve’s heart seized when she saw the face of the tyrant. Fair, youthful and perhaps attractive if the situation was a little less bloody. 

But those eyes…even Coerthas had less ice in its land than what those cruel orbs held. Eve wasn’t staring at just any Garlean; she was faced with a monster.

He held her gaze as she couldn’t bring herself to break eye contact. Her instincts surged, demanding for her to claw apart his face.

Yet, that would only serve to his expectations of her. So, Eve calmed herself down, gripping her fist to try and feel something else other than his ice-cold gaze or the warm rain against her skin.

“Hear me, hero.” She hated how he said hero as if it was a derogatory term. “Endure. Survive. Live. For the rush of blood, for the time between seconds – live. For the sole pleasure left to me in this empty, ephemeral world – live!”

Eve felt a growl rising in her throat yet her left ear twitched, making her earring jingle. She swallowed back the growl as something in his words…beckoned a form of pity.

Before she could analyse this further, Yugiri was on her feet and charging towards Zenos. Eve parted her lips to beg her to run in the opposite direction, Zenos drew his weapon and struck her back effortlessly.

“You are not worthy.”

He began marching towards the fallen shinobi.

“Yugiri, no!” Eve cried out as she tried to launch herself at Zenos but fell flat on her front when her legs protested.

An arrow landed just before Zenos’s foot. Eve’s ears pricked as she looked up and saw a group of villagers, armed with meagre weapons and farm tools. Her heart leapt.

“Get away from them, you imperial dog!”

Isse? But why? 

“No, don’t…” Yugiri gasped as she struggled to get up. “You must…you must flee!”

Eve scrambled to try and grab her bow. She couldn’t let Zenos just cut down innocent villagers! 

“We’re not going anywhere! Do you hear me?! We’re not running away!”

No, please run away! 

Eve grunted as her fingers grazed against her bow.

“What you’re doing is stupid and reckless and I never wanted any part of it, but here we are!”

Isse went on in his speech as Eve scrambled to aim an arrow at Zenos. But her arms protested, and her weapon fell to the floor. Everywhere screamed in pain as Eve struggled to pick it up again.

“Death is death, regardless of the reason,” Zenos uttered and the blood began boiling in her again.

He began marching forward to the villagers and Eve parted her lips to beg for them to run.

Then, her aches were gone. Eve turned to see Alisae running forward and shouting orders. A cloud of smoke enveloped the scene and Eve picked her bow and arrows up, jumping to her feet.

“I can’t see a damn thing!” Yotsuyu exclaimed. “Someone, stop them!”

Eve’s heart sunk as she heard the heavy, armoured footsteps of Zenos walk in her direction. She stepped back, readying her bow. Her left ear twitched and the jingle of her earring gave her position away.

She steeled herself as something brushed her shoulder…then her earring was yanked out of her ear.

She yelped in pain, jumping back and holding the bloody spot. Tears pricked her eyes as Zenos’s footsteps faded away.

“Eve! Eve, are you alright?!”

Eve felt Alisae grab her hand and she gripped it back. They off, Eve gripping her ear and sniffing back the pain.

Once they were in the clear, the young elezen was beside herself as she saw the blood on the warrior’s ear. Eve took a deep breath as she pulled her hand away, thankful that the bleeding wasn’t all that much.

Still, miqo’te ears were sensitive and it shook her a little that Zenos, who pretty much thinks everyone who isn’t Garlean to be savages, ripped her earring out just like that.

As she leaned down to let Alisae take a closer look at it, her gaze drifted to the Moon Gate, where the barrier flickered to let the imperial vessel through. She finally growled to herself.

* * *

As fortune would have it, things only felt like they were going up. Eve was heartbroken by those who were lost on her journey to free Doma than Ala Mhigo but surprisingly, she didn’t let it get her down. She only pushed forward with more reason to carry on everyone’s hopes and dreams.

She was not going to let anyone else down.

So, by the time she was pointed towards the siege at the castle, she was pumped. She was pumped and ready, she could do this, there was no question in her mind that made her think she was going to fail.

And it took all of her willpower to not let the adrenaline have her go wild in her victory against Zenos in the throne room.

However, the ecstasy was short-lived as Zenos charged forward. She aimed another arrow at him, but he darted to the side. Eve didn’t have the chance to follow his movements when his hand cupped under her chin and tilted her head to the side. He let out a small victorious ‘hmph’ right by her left ear…

Eve screamed as he sunk his teeth into her ear, enclosing around her earring, then tore it off. Blood splattered on the throne room’s floor as she sunk to her knees, shivering and clutching her poor ear.

Zenos chuckled as he circled her, his shadow swallowing her whole. Eve whimpered as she rocked from side to side, her body shaking as blood trickled between her fingers.

She heard her earring nudge against his teeth and then a purposely loud swallow. A sigh of content passed his lips and Eve heard her earing fall into the palm of his hand.

She finally lifted her gaze up to him as he held her earring in the light, rolling it between his fingertips.

She had so many opportunities to point out his hypocrisy in his brutally savage attack, but her mouth remained closed. She just…felt paralysed, especially as those cold eyes, glimmering with a madness she hadn’t realised could exist until now, stared her down.

Eve sniffed back her tears. She could feel where his teeth had separated flesh from flesh, and it made her shiver violently.

So much for being victorious.

Zenos licked the blood, her blood, from his lips before laughing. It made Eve’s stomach twist as that damn laugh echoed in the throne room.

“Such ferocity! Such tenacity!”

He crouched down in one fluid motion and wrestled her hand away from her ear. His eyes lit up as he thumbed her wound, making her whine in pain.

“Finally…you prove yourself worthy of the hunt,” he purred, leaning in close enough for his hair to brush her nose. “It fills you even now, doesn’t it?” Those cold eyes bore into hers. “The hunger. To bite down on my jugular, to feel the warmth fill your mouth and run over even as you drink deep.”

Eve snarled, letting her baser instincts govern her momentarily. She tried pulling out of his grip, but he tightened it on her ear, making her growl louder.

“Good, good! This is the beast I have longed to face!”

His hand ran down to her face, metal clad fingers pressing against her cheek before resting under her chin to tilt it up further.

“As you sharpened your claws, I too sought newfound strength. But this is no place for a final contest.”

He rose to his feet.

“Come! The heavens shall bear witness to our dance!”

He turned and walked back to the throne he had lounged in when Eve first arrived, disappearing behind it.

Eve kneeled on the floor for a while, her left ear twitching in pain and flicking off more blood to stain the stone. She swallowed and pushed herself to her feet.

She really shouldn’t be chasing after him, but who was she to turn down such a passionate invitation?

Against her better judgement, she ran after him, following him into the gardens.

Her boots skidded on the stone as she stopped to look up at the large cage that housed Shinryu. She will never get over how big these things could get but to have it right before her…

“Welcome to the Royal Menagerie.”

Eve’s tail went rigid as Zenos beckoned her closer. She swallowed as she walked into the gardens, leaving a tail of ear blood in her wake.

“This garden was once filled with creatures from the homeland of the foreign queen. They bored me all. This fine specimen on the other hand…” He turned to the imprisoned primal. “…is simply divine. Your fates are intertwined, are they not, eikon-slayer? This dragon…this embodiment of unbridled despair born of a desperate man’s burning hatred for the Empire…a being of pure violence.”

He chuckled.

“Mayhap you’re the true architect of this design. You, who fought the very soul of vengeance to the edge and watched him fall. You, who let slip the Allagan hound to drive this eikon into my arms.”

Eve narrowed her eyes, her bloody ear flicking in agitation.

“Oh, have I said too much? Forgive me, this sensation is wholly unfamiliar to me. Then, I shall ask a question, which I expect for you to answer from your heart. If I were to stand aside, what would you do to this eikon?”

Eve raised her brow. She cleared her throat and prayed for her voice to return. 

“Um, kill it? You just named me the eikon-slayer, it is pretty much in my reputation.”

“Yes, such certainty it to be expected. A pity. There is another alternative. Or there would be, had you mastered your abilities.”

Did he just insult her again?

“I speak of the Echo of course. When I read van Baelsar’s reports, I saw boundless potential of it. I saw how it could be instrumental in binding an eikon to one’s will. Hence my research and the Resonant and oh so much more!

All eikons must be exterminated, without exception. Such was the imperial mandate my great-grandfather issued when he witnessed the destruction wrought by one such being. ‘Twas not justice that spurred his crusade but fear! Fear of the eikons, fear of the power… Pathetic.”

His face twisted into one of delighted rage. His smile turned ugly as his cold gaze heated to bear into hers.

“Man should fight for the joy of it! To eat, to live, to breed – only lesser beasts snap and howl at one another for this. Only man has the wisdom and clarity to embrace violence for its own sake. For we all have but one candle of life to burn once we are born into this merciless, meaningless world.

I know you understand this. You and I are one and the same. Together, we could while away the quiet hours, as friend and confidant. If you will accept me.”

Eve was stunned into silence once more. She had so many things to say to him about his philosophical monologue, but the words couldn’t form themselves. Her bloody ear twitched at his proposal and it was all she needed to answer.

“As if. I may have been thrown into many trials and tribulations to save this world but we are not the same.”

Zenos chuckled. “And yet, by denying me, you prove me right. We are warriors. ‘Twas plain from the first how this would end. You live for these moments. When all hangs in the balance…when the difference between life and death is but a single stroke.”

He lifted his blade with an unhinged grin.

“I live for them too! This is who we are, my friend! This is all we are! Ala Mhigo and Doma and Garlemald be damned!”

Before Eve could even process his madness, he swiftly sliced the lock of Shinryu’s cage in half and set the beast free. Eve’s ears flattened as the dragon unfurled itself and let its roar be heard across the land.

It stretched its jaws wider and let out a jet of blue flames which encompassed both warriors.

“We tower above the gods!” Zenos declared. “You by your gift and I by my might! And before the Resonant the gods shall be made to kneel!”

Dark aura encompassed him as he rose. Shinryu’s blue flames petered out as it struggled. Eve could only watched with a gobsmacked expression as Zenos merged with the dragon and covered her eyes as a bright light shone across the garden.

She slowly lowered her arms and stared at the dragon, now seemingly compliant.

“An ending to mark a new beginning!”

Eve watched him take off and her shoulders sagged. She reached up to hold her ear, wincing as it throbbed in pain. Then with a deep sigh, she got out her bow and charged after him.

* * *

Eve was still trembling from the rush of taking down a large dragon fused with the body of a madman. When she appeared in the flowerbed opposite Zenos, she let her bow fall. She placed her hands on her knees, catching her breath.

“Eve!” The miqo’te’s ears twitched as she glanced over her shoulder to see Lyse and Alphinaud rush to her side. Lyse covered her mouth as she saw Eve’s left ear, now covered in dried blood. “Are you all right?!”

Eve nodded, ignoring the way her left ear was spasming. Lyse looked relieved, if not a little daunted before turning to Zenos.

Zenos struggled to get to his feet, grasping his katana whilst coughing up his own blood.

“The hunter…has indeed become the hunted… And yet…there is only joy. Transcendent joy that I have never known. How invigorating…how pure…this feeling is…”

Pity swelled in Eve’s breast as she watched Zenos look up into the sunset painted sky with what she felt was his first genuine smile.

“Is that what’s this been about?!” Lyse screamed at him. “All this meaningless death and destruction, just so you could feel something?!”

Anger began bubbling to the surface for Eve, but she found herself quelling it. If there was a lesson from fighting Zenos, it was to not get too angry or he’d enjoy it a bit too much.

“Meaningless?” Zenos echoed as he looked to Lyse. “Men die so that others may live. Those who survive are stronger for it. Not that you could ever understand it.” He cast his eyes back to the sky. “Oh, this moment…let it be enshrined in eternity. My heart…beating out of time. So clear, so vivid, so real…”

He lowered his gaze for a moment and Eve swore he glanced at her fallen bow.

“So…real…”

Again, the pity swelled. Eve should hate this man for everything that had happened, for all the deaths he brought about but…she couldn’t. Like Yotsuyu before leaving her in Doma Castle’s wreckage, she kind of wanted to give him a hug.

Eve’s ears pricked to attention as Zenos raised his blade to press against his neck. Lyse and Alphinaud shouted as time slowed to a crawl and Zenos locked eyes with Eve.

“Farewell, my first friend. My enemy.”

For once, those eyes didn’t feel cold. Eve could only watch in horror as Lyse grew closer to Zenos…and nearly get hit by the splatter of blood as he sliced his neck open.

Eve pressed her lips together as Zenos fell to the flowers and Lyse stopped before him, frozen into place. Silence encompassed the scene and Eve didn’t even notice Raubahn, Pipin and Hien approach them.

“Where is he?” The general’s voice pretty much made her jump. She didn’t turn to address them however, she only focused on the dead body before her and Lyse.

She approached the hyur and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking down at Zenos with a grim look in her eyes.

“He’s dead,” Alphinaud replied. “By his own hand.”

“Then justice has been done.”

“No,” Lyse murmured as she reached up to hold Eve’s hand. “This…has no justice.”

Eve squeezed her hand gently.

“We won,” Raubahn said. “Forget him. The living have need of us now.”

“Stand tall, Lyse!” Hien spoke. “Now is the time to raise a cheer for all who fought for freedom!”

Eve tilted her head as Lyse turned her head away from the bloody mess before them. She smiled.

“You’re right.” She smiled to Eve. “Thank you. Without you…”

“Don’t even think of it,” Eve cut her off as she squeezed both her hands.

Lyse smiled, tears shining in her eyes as she nodded. “So, let’s cheer together. For Ala Mhigo!”

Eve couldn’t hold back her smile, especially when Arenvald sounded the horn, eliciting cheers across the stronghold and city.

Lyse ran to greet him and the other soldiers whilst Eve lingered behind to glance at Zenos’s corpse.

As the others chattered behind her, she closed her eyes and purred quietly for a few short seconds. Like she had to Haurchefant, to Ysayle, to Conrad and many others she had lost, she offered a soft purring prayer in the hope that they finally knew peace.

Her purring was cut short as she noticed something by Zenos’s hand and crouched. Her stomach twisted as she saw it was her earring and she could still hear the memory of how it was removed.

Crunch. Tear. Swallow. Chink.

Her left ear spasmed from the memory and that was when Eve spied a different earring nearby, the one he took off her in Doma.

She raised her hand to collect them then froze. She shook her head and retracted her hand.

Lyse called for her and she turned away, running to join her comrades. 

The time to put all of this behind them was now.


	2. Bloopers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now for a bit of comic relief.

Blooper #1:

“If Zenos is here,” Yugiri said, “we must seize this opportunity to kill him.”

“At least wait until I’m level seventy!” Eve exclaimed as she raised her hands.

Everyone stared at the miqo’te bard. She glanced around.

“What?”

Blooper #2:

“Yugiri, we’re gonna die.”

Yugiri said nothing as she and Eve crouched on the rooftop, waiting for Zenos to make his appearance.

“Yugiri, I’m serious, we’re gonna die.”

“Ssh. He comes.”

Yugiri jumped off the rooftop, leaving Eve alone.

“…We’re gonna die.”

Blooper #3:

“What you’re doing is stupid and reckless and I never wanted any part of it,” Isse growled as he readied another arrow, “but here we are!”

“If you have time to complain about being here, then you have time to run away!” Eve barked.

Blooper #4:

Zenos chuckled.

“Mayhap you’re the true architect of this design. You, who fought the very soul of vengeance to the edge and watched him fall. You, who let slip the Allagan hound to drive this eikon into my arms.”

“Okay, I’m just going to stop you there,” Eve sighed as she held her hands up. “Omega was Nero’s idea. Don’t lump me with his decision, it’s all on him that Shinryu ended up here, give him the credit he so deserves.”

“Eve!” Sephirotha barked from the corner.

“What?! You don’t like Nero either! I’m just working off this sass you have!”

Sephirotha buried her head in her hands with a soft groan.

Blooper #5:

Zenos lifted his blade with an unhinged grin.

“I live for them too! This is who we are, my friend!”

“I am not your friend!” Eve shouted.

“Let him finish at least!” Sephirotha sighed.

“You know how much we hate villain monologues! I’m the one standing here having to listen to him prattle on and on!”

Blooper #6:

Zenos landed in the flowerbeds, petals flying everywhere upon impact. Eve appeared just before him, catching her breath.

“Did everyone see that?” she asked, looking around at the crew. “Because I am not doing that fight again.”

Blooper #7:

“Farewell, my first friend. My enemy.”

“Wait, first friend? Really? Wow, who hurt you?”

Blooper #8:

“Farewell, my first friend. My enemy.”

“I mean seriously, didn’t your father even get you a whipping boy or someone desperate to even try to befriend you?”

Blooper #9:

“Farewell, my first friend. My enemy.”

“I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND!”

Blooper #10:

“Farewell, my first friend. My enemy.”

Eve parted her lips but could see Sephirotha raise a finger warningly from the corner of her eye so pressed them together.


End file.
